Outside a huge building with a sign reading Triple C Ranch-East Western Store & Stables, Cash reined the stallion in at a hitching post. Loosening his grip around her waist, he let her gently slide down the side of the horse to the ground.
Wow. Just wow. Cash Cooper made that wild pick up and tame drop off seem so easy.
“Thanks for the lift,” Tracy said a bit flippantly, her knees wobbly.
“All part of the show,” Cash replied before dismounting.
Cash turned away from her and spoke to a couple of men she assumed worked on his ranch. Tracy’s skirt had ridden up a bit, so she melted into the crowd of ladies and tugged it into place. She smiled at Donna who gave her a ‘what in the world’ look before handing her a notepad for jotting down facts, statements, and ideas while writing her magazine articles.
Tracy had applied at the magazine during the last onlinesemester of her bachelor’s degree in communication. By that time, she’d been hired by the small Kit Carson newspaper. But whenRanchers and Rangesoffered her a job, with much trepidation and Grandma’s urging, she resigned her job at the local newspaper. The newspaper’s headlines had read;Our Dalton Darling Goes to Colorado Springs. It had been almost a year since she’d left her little hometown and moved to the big city. Soon after, Donna Smith had been hired at the magazine. Full disclosure on Donna per Jacob; Donna had been labeled as a flirtatious busybody who acted more like the magazine owner instead of a relatively new employee. Tracy had noticed that as well but hadn’t commented.
Upon being hired, Tracy had been assigned to Gerald Moles, the human-interest stories editor and a fairly new hire as well. Also per Jacob, everyone loved Tracy. Not so much Gerald who, for reasons unconfirmed, was on probationary status at work. Word to the wise, Gerald was a womanizer with a dubious past and rumor had it he and Donna were sleeping together. Gerald also might have a sexual harassment accusation against him and there was talk of possibly getting high on the job, both probable causes for his probationary status. Gerald had voiced to Jacob that he’d taken a liking to Tracy and claimed he was the reason she had gotten this big break; a week on a dude ranch—Triple C Ranch-East no less, and the Mustang. As a man with black hair and a short beard walked toward her, Tracy forced aside her work concerns.
“You missed out on the introductions earlier, ma’am. I’m Sam Reynolds, the ranch foreman,” the man said with a tip of his cowboy hat. As a second man joined them, he said, “And this is my son, Jeff.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jeff greeted her, also politely tipping his hat.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both as well.”
“All right, ladies and Jacob, come on,” Cash said in a jovial manner and strode down the middle of the enormous stables full of horses. With Sam and Jeff on opposite sides ofTracy, the group followed the ranch owner. “Let’s take a tour, learn a few facts, and pick out your horses.” Amid the excited chatter and nervous titters among the ladies, Cash turned toward Tracy and those cobalt eyes captured her. “Ready or not, I’m gonna teach you to ride, tenderfoot.”
CHAPTER THREE
Cash purposely steered away from Tracy Dalton inside the stables.
“Our wranglers keep their horses in a separate barn next to the bunkhouse. You’ll meet the rest of our crew shortly,” Cash said to the guests, beginning the tour of horses. “In addition to renovating our guest cabins here on Triple C-East, we’ve enlarged the stables. We now have thirty horse stalls. Twenty of them are occupied with American quarter horses. My brother, Chase Cooper, who runs a cattle ranch on Triple C-Central, also has quarter horses. They start fast, turn fast, and stop fast which makes them excellent at cutting cattle from herds.”
“Are they the horses often seen in rodeos?” Tracy asked politely, all business.
“Yes, quarter horses are highly competitive in rodeos because they excel in cow-horse competitions, calf roping, reining, cutting, and intricate maneuvers like barrel racing,” Cash replied with the same professionalism. As Tracy bent her head to make a note in her notepad, he said, “On a dude ranch the quarter horse’s strong desire to please, make them a popular choice for beginners as well as experienced riders.” He answered questions from other guests and then said, “We alsohave five Percherons, which are draft horses. They were bred and born on Triple C-West. My brother-in-law, Derek Brevard, runs a large and successful Percheron horse ranch alongside my sister’s bed-and-breakfast a few miles down the main road.”
“We’ve stayed at Chloe Brevard’s original bed-and-breakfast and her new one,” Diane piped up with a glance around at the other ladies. “It’s fabulous.”
“We highly recommend it,” her sister Joyce said, as the other ladies eagerly listened.
“I’ll tell Chloe you ladies said so,” Cash replied.
“I’m familiar with American quarter horses,” Jacob began, “but not Percherons.”
“Percherons are often used by law enforcement because of the horses’ intelligence, willingness to work, and their docile nature in crowds. Here on Triple C-East, Percherons have proven to be an excellent addition to our stables. Despite their large size, they are gentle and even-tempered, also making them well-suited for the novice or advanced rider. Like our quarter horses we love and respect our Percherons.” With a wave toward the nearest horse stall, Cash said. “This first horse is a quarter horse, a mare named Dandelion.” Walking to the stall, he patted the nose of the palomino. “Mares are female horses typically over the age of four. Dandelion is gentle and friendly.”
It was a good thing this tour was something Cash did all the time, because Tracy had zapped him like a red-hot thunderbolt. He wasn’t sure he could have gotten all the words out as easily as he was doing if it weren’t part of his regular routine. When he had swept Tracy off the ground and across his lap she’d settled against his chest and between his spread legs like she belonged there. He’d had to concentrate to keep his lower body from responding. He caught her looking his way and smiled. She made eye contact but didn’t smile in return.
“Horse number two is a quarter horse named Lobo,” Cash said. “A longtime friend of mine, nicknamed Lobo,suggested the name saying this horse was as fast as his Harley.”
Cash had always been attracted to women with all shades of red hair; from strawberry blondes to auburn brunettes and had dated redheaded classmates at Falcon High School. While attending the University of Colorado, he dated mostly redheads and had celebrated graduating, with dual bachelor’s degrees in business and animal science, with dual redheads. But this woman, this—Tracy Dalton—was the epitome of the perfect redhead. Her hair, not too light, not too dark, was just the most beautiful shade of red he’d ever seen. Long and thick, it framed her gorgeous face and swung in sexy waves around her slender shoulders.
“This fifth horse is Frederick.” Sam had apparently taken over for Cash and was saying, “A gelding which, if you’ll recall, I explained, is a castrated male horse.”
Somewhere, along the way, Cash had become so lost in thinking about redheaded women and wondering why Tracy hadn’t smiled back, he’d completely lost track of the introduction of horses numbers three and four; a mare named Lizzie and a gelding named Rocky. He chuckled to himself. Evidently, he wasn’t getting all his regular words out after all.
The women petted the horses’ noses and manes as Jacob snapped pictures. Cash glanced at Tracy again, who was taking notes as Sam spoke. All of the guests including Jacob, who’d no doubt been escorted to the bunkhouse by Sam or Jeff, had changed into riding attire; shirts, jeans, and boots. Only two women weren’t wearing boots. Tracy, in her dress and stilettos, stuck out like a sore thumb. He figured she stuck out in any crowd.
“This next horse is good ol’ Ben,” Sam said. “He’s wise and kind and ready to retire,” Sam finished with a fond pat to the horse’s neck.
“I want good ol’ Ben,” Diane said, raising her hand and catching Cash’s eye.
“Done,” Cash said with a smile at Diane as Jeff made a note. “Ben’s best friend is Bess, a sweet lady by all accounts.”
